Page 207 - Radical Love by Linda Robinson

RADICAL LOVE

Bridegroom. These were the words she had been waiting to hear—

being uttered from His lips. If He was saying it, then it must be true!
She believed Him at His word.

There is an important life lesson for us here. When we hear a word
spoken to us personally by God, we have a choice. Either we choose to

believe it—irrespective of how we feel—and allow it to expand in our

hearts until it is activated, or we reject it and let it fall to the ground.
The Shulamite did not feel like she was a garden, but she believed she

was, because the Lord had told her so.

As we read the verse further, we can see how her response to these

words indicates the progression of her spiritual walk. She cries:

“Oh, I pray that the cold north wind and the soft south wind may blow

upon my garden, that its spices may flow out in abundance for you in

whom my soul delights.”

What a contrast this is to the end of Chapter 3, where the Shulamite

was fearful of rising from her comfort zone to follow the Bridegroom-
King. She was afraid of opening up further to the work of the Cross in

her life because she did not yet understand that in Christ we are always

safe and secure—and also that the richest of blessings would eventually
ensue.

However, her Lord refused to give up on her and continued to fill her
with His love and affirmation. As a consequence, she is now thoroughly

193